Dare
O’Shaughnessy had the world in the palm of his hand. A man known and feared for
his ruthlessness, his word was law. The last word he ever expected to hear was
no. Until he met her.

The Prey…

Aya Smith
despised the ruling class who looked down on hardworking people like her. Sick
of being treated unfairly by laws that protect the wealthy and punish the poor,
she takes a stand but soon realizes, she might have crossed the wrong man.

The Game…

Created as a
government program to assist in the repopulation of the country when an
untested drug wipes out millions of women, The Run eventually evolves into
something much more sinister. Now played for the amusement of the super rich,
women down on their luck find themselves the prizes of sadistic masters.

Aya is
forced to volunteer for The Run, and Dare, the most sadistic of all, places her
in his crosshairs. She will belong to him, body and soul. But when he catches
her will she succumb to his mastery, or will he find more trouble than he
bargained for?

Aya
took a deep breath as she made her way to the bar being careful not to look
directly in the direction of the jerk supreme. As she poured his drink, she was
tempted to spit in it. With each move she made, Aya could feel his heated gaze
on her. She wasn’t naive about men like him. They acted like they owned
everything they saw. He was toying with them and threatening their livelihood
because he could.

She
used as much time as she dared to fix his drink before walking toward him,
still refusing to make eye contact. Aya forced herself not to slam the glass
down in front of him. “Will that be all, sir?” she asked through gritted teeth
while she kept her gaze planted on her feet.

“Look
at me.”

Aya
didn’t want to stare into eyes so deep a green they were almost hypnotizing.
They were her favorite shade and she resented the hell out of him for that.
Thoughts of her uncle forced her to comply. Slowly, she raised her head until
she met his gaze full on. That cruel smirk curved his lips.

“If
there’s nothing else, I need to see to the needs of the other customers.”

“I
was under the impression from the proprietor that you don’t deal with
customers. Which one of you is lying?”

She
bit the inside of her lip to hold back an angry retort.

The
bastard had the nerve to chuckle. “No need to answer. I can see he was just
protecting what’s his. I can’t say I blame him. What are you to him?”

“I
don’t think that’s any of your business.”

“Fair
enough.” He picked up his drink and took a sip all while his gaze roamed the
bar. After placing the glass down, the smirk returned. “How much do you think a
place like this would cost if someone wanted to invest for the purposes of
tearing it down and rebuilding?”

The
blood pounded in her head and she dug her nails into her palms. “He’s my uncle.”

He
nodded in seeming approval. “Have a seat, Aya.”

She
didn’t like how he used her name as if he had the right but she complied. “Look
Mr. O’Shaughnessy, I don’t know what you’re trying to do here, but we don’t
want any trouble. We’re sorry if you haven’t found the service to your
satisfaction but we just want to be left alone. Please.”

“You
seem like an intelligent woman. I would have thought it was fairly obvious what
I wanted.”

She
folded her hands in her lap and clinched them tightly together to keep herself
from trembling. This couldn’t be happening. There had to be a way she could get
herself out of this. She opted to play dumb. “I have no clue what you’re
talking about.”

He
narrowed his eyes. “I think you do. In fact, I know you do. So, let’s not play
games. You can make this really easy on yourself. You and your uncle will be
taken care of for as long as I want you. And when I no longer do, you’ll be
well compensated. You’ll be under my protection.”

She
fought back the urge to attack him. The arrogant son of a bitch. “And what if I
don’t make things easy on myself?”

“I
don’t think you want to know. But the end result will be the same. I will have
you.”

USA Today
Bestselling Author Eve Vaughn has always enjoyed creating characters and
stories from an early age. As a child she was always getting into mischief, so
when she lost her television privileges (which was often), writing served as
her outlet. Her stories have gotten quite a bit spicier since then! When she’s
not writing or spending time her family, Eve is reading, baking, traveling or
kicking butt in 80′s trivia. She loves hearing from her readers.